Tragedy on the ice: Professional angler Jim Hudson, gone too soon

Posted on January 28, 2013

Life ticks by in seconds and it takes but one split second for tragedy to strike. Such was the case on Saturday, Jan. 26, when a good friend, and fellow communicator Jim Hudson lost his life when his snowmobile left the ice and met open water on Lake Superior.

Hudson’s On-The-Spot Guide Service was the premier guiding operation for Chequamegon Bay and the Apostle Islands region. Hudson was born on that western Lake Superior shoreline and spent his life exploring the huge lake for potential fishing locations he would share with his friends and clients. Those that chose to fish the productive waters in Hudson’s back yard knew the best guiding experience they could achieve would be in the boat or on the ice with Jim.

A Coast Guard captain, Hudson graduated college with a degree in the field of Natural Resources and dedicated his life to the land and waters surrounding him. He was passionate about the sport of fishing which was reflected in his choice to make it a full-time career.

While Hudson was considered a master angler and guide, those in the outdoor-promotions field saw him as a premier sponsor advocate. His many appearances on television, radio, internet outlets and print publications were a testament to his ability to generate exposure for his business and sponsors. Jim was sought by companies that knew he could provide generous exposure for their products and he aligned himself with the best organizations in the industry and served them well.

Hudson’s reach was illustrated in the amount of accolades and testaments directed towards his life’s works through Facebook and Twitter, phone calls between friends and acquaintances and emails that jammed mailboxes on computers across the country. There were thousands.

For many of us in the outdoors the inherent risks in what we do always has us living on the edge of life’s margin. Occasionally a young life edges too close to those limits and is lost. It’s a tragedy and we all suffer the loss. It’s extremely difficult to say goodbye to a good friend, and while Hudson’s life was cut short, the memories of the trips we took, the fish we caught, the fun we had, and time we spent together will have to fill the void that many of us feel as we grieve the loss of our good friend, Jim Hudson.